Hello fellow wavies! I started a hair journal over a year ago and jotted down notes for combinations that worked and did not work on my hair. This is going to make me look a little obsessive/compulsive but I grew really tired of my hair looking great when I left the house then looking so sad once I was out the door. I also did it so I could remember sure fire combos that worked on my hair. I always see questions on the board about product suggestions so I thought I would throw this out there. I didn't include the combinations that did NOT work.

I rarely have luck using one product as a stand alone. Trying to read my chicken scratch in an old spiral was becoming ridiculous so I typed it up for my own benefit. Just sharing. Now I don't have to look at my army of gels and scratch my head wondering what combination worked. I should mention that I live in Houston, Texas where humidity is no friend of mine and that I am modified CG.

Products that Worked My Waves

Items in bold were product combinations that worked exceptionally well for me. I had circled, underlined, or put stars around those combinations.

This is a summary of some general notes I had written down in my old spiral. It is a combination of tips from naturallycurly.com and notes I made to myself:

Out of all of my gels for mixing, BRHG and Hask Haute Glace are my favorites. BRHG can be purchased locally but Hask has to be ordered over the net. TY Lavendercurls for the rec.

Put in product when hair is sopping wet. Squish it around plenty!

Do not plop…doesn’t work for you. Squish your hair with the flour cloth towels or the diaper towels you tie dyed.

Use clippies after using flour cloth towels and do not touch until dry. Diffuse on COLD to help with frizzies.

You MUST use a leave in or not rinse out as much conditioner when co-washing on non-humid days with Sebastian Hi-Contrast, Garnier Bold It, and BRHG gels. All of the above have very strong holds and you will be scrunching forever if you use the product exclusively.

I definitely own the ones in bold. Many of the ones that are not in bold have said goodbye. A few are underneath by bathroom cabinet but not many.

HE TT is Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Mousse.

Some of the products I already had when I went CG but some I purchased based on recs from this board. Some worked great (like Mop C, Shea M, and IQCCC) and some did not (Max Green and a few Paul Mitchell products). The ones that did not work were given to some of my students with curly hair. I work with kids that don't have a lot of money to spare so it was a simple way to make a few happy.

A few months ago I brought a box to school of unloved products and told five gals to dig through it and take anything they wanted. You would have thought it was Christmas. Everything was gone in five minutes!

Turns out I am one of those list weirdo's even though I am a right (hair) brained gal-hehe. When my head is always in the clouds lists get me thru life a little more mindfully.

Just to clarify-in your list of combos are you layering them in the order each line is listed, or do you actually mix them all together and then apply? I am assuming that is the case as I noticed on a couple you specified that you scrunched the last product in.

LOL I actually have one of those hair notebooks! Mine was started to see if I could figure out what products/ingredients were bothering me though. I have a lot of sensitivities. I couldn't use any of those combos I don't think due to the chemicals. Right now I'm having some luck with my Alaffia leave in, MHC Type 2 cream, and homemade Flax seed gel on top.

Oh dear. I was SO hoping to avoid the hair notebook... an idea which occurred to me some time back. I tend to be a little bit obsessive -- about oh so many things -- and I'm trying to learn not to encourage this behavior!

My "hair notebook" entries take up one or two lines in an old spiral. I scribble what I put in my hair and normally it is in equal parts (unless it is a leave in conditioner). After that I just write "YES" or "NO" and I have a few "OMG NO" entries and a few entries that I can not repeat because the board moderators would kill me!

I was getting tired of spending so much money on hair products and didn't want to jump on any more product bandwagons. There are quite a few women that do this on their Fotkis with photos to boot, but I am too lazy and lack the time. I only scribble in it maybe once a week now and that is if I find a combo that worked. It helped me immensely when I was just starting this whole CG craziness. Hope it helps you too.

My "hair notebook" entries take up one or two lines in an old spiral. I scribble what I put in my hair and normally it is in equal parts (unless it is a leave in conditioner). After that I just write "YES" or "NO" and I have a few "OMG NO" entries and a few entries that I can not repeat because the board moderators would kill me!

I was getting tired of spending so much money on hair products and didn't want to jump on any more product bandwagons. There are quite a few women that do this on their Fotkis with photos to boot, but I am too lazy and lack the time. I only scribble in it maybe once a week now and that is if I find a combo that worked. It helped me immensely when I was just starting this whole CG craziness. Hope it helps you too.

Originally Posted by Infraredhead

I have a hair notebook too, but always forget to write my successes down. Maybe i should just get totally weird and stick the notebook with a pen in my bathroom closet! I am also anal enought to catalog my product collection and my many wishlists of products in said notebook.

I am still not quite clear on how you are applying the products to your hair-For instance, in your warmer weather combo of BRHG and HE Totally Twisted- Do you put on BRHG first, and then an equal amount of HE TT mousse over that? Or do you mix an equal amount of both in your palm and then apply? Thanks for the details!